Popular games for platform Commodore VIC-20
Rally-X is a maze & driving arcade game, that was released by Namco in 1980 and licensed to Midway Games for US manufacture and distribution in 1981. It was ported to the SG-1000 in Taiwan.
The 'Acme Interstellar Transport Company' is delivering spaceship kits to various planets in the solar system throughout the Galaxy; and as chief test pilot, all you have to do is assemble the Rockets, and thrust on to your next destination. As you don't often get the chance of a free trip across the Galaxy, this is a great opportunity to get rich! Stop off on several planets on your journey, collect the odd sack of precious gems, elements or gold, and take them back with you. Sounds simple doesn't it! But before you make yourself the richest person in the whole Universe, remember to refuel your Spaceship - with 6 fuel pods - every time you land on a planet. Any other goodies you collect are yours to keep. Upon landing, you will find yourself equipped with the very latest Hydrovac Jet Pac, which can automatically air lift almost any rocket stage, fuel pod or valuables that you care to land upon, and release them over the rocket ship base. Don't forget your mega-powerful, Quad Photon Laser Phasers can blast any nasty, mean aliens who might object to your visit.
This dungeon crawler is one of the first ever RPGs with graphics and character progression.
In 1982, a sequel to the incredibly popular Pac-Man was introduced in the form of his girlfriend, Ms. Pac-Man. This sequel continued on the "eat the dots/avoid the ghosts" gameplay of the original game, but added new features to keep the title fresh. Like her boyfriend, Ms. Pac-Man attempts to clear four various and challenging mazes filled with dots and ever-moving bouncing fruit while avoiding Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Sue, each with their own personalities and tactics. One touch from any of these ghosts means a loss of life for Ms. Pac-Man. Ms. Pac-Man can turn the tables on her pursuers by eating one of the four Energizers located within the maze. During this time, the ghosts turn blue, and Ms. Pac-Man can eat them for bonus points. The Energizer power only lasts for a limited amount of time, as the ghost's eyes float back to their center box, and regenerate to chase after Ms. Pac-Man again. Survive a few rounds of gameplay, and the player will be treated to humorous intermissions showing the growing romantic relationship between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, leading all the way up to the arrival of "Junior".
Moon Patrol is an arcade game originally released in 1982 by Irem and later licensed for release in North America by Williams (Midway). It is a side-scrolling shooter that puts players at the controls of a six-wheeled moon rover that can jump and shoot. The goal is to move through the entire course as quickly as possible while shooting enemies for additional points. Cannons are mounted on the front and top of the vehicle, and both fire simultaneously when the fire button is pressed. Rocks, mines, and pits in the course prevent you from just holding to the right for maximum speed. Rocks and mines can be shot, but pits must be jumped. Some enemies fire shots that create new pits in the course, forcing players to react quickly.
The lost city of Atlantis is under attack! Wave after wave of Gorgon vessels are approaching, each armed with weapons capable of destroying a part of the city. You are in charge of the command posts at the edges of the city and need to defend it from the invaders. The various gorgon craft will keep flying by on the screen in varying numbers and in different flight patterns. At first they fly high in the sky but then progressively lower. If an enemy makes it low enough before you destroy it, it will use it's weapons and destroy one of the buildings in Atlantis. As you progress in the game, the enemy craft will keep increasing in speed. The game ends when all remaining buildings in the city have been destroyed.
Lode Runner is a 1983 puzzle video game, first published by Brøderbund. It is one of the first games to include a level editor, a feature that allows players to create their own levels for the game. This feature bolstered the game's popularity, as magazines such as Computer Gaming World held contests to see who could build the best level.
In the Aztec empire you were chosen for sacrifice. A forthcoming violent death you can only escape when a risky obstacle course face - the "Aztec Challenge". But that is no picnic: at the beginning it will be from "all sides" . pelted with spears, while one has to work its almost endless way to the temple Once there it is not friendly: trapdoors, falling boulders, snakes and spiders waiting for new victims. it is a moral imperative and a two-player mode - unfortunately alternate the players then only from. the game features 7 breathtaking levels (plus end bonus), in which a good reactivity is required. The graph corresponds unfortunately only the ordinary 1984, but does not spoil the good game idea. Moreover, good acoustics for the right mood makes. Ideal: one has reached a higher level, you do not have to start again when all lives are exhausted.
The very first racing game with the rear perspective camera and track based on real life.
Congo Bongo is an isometric platform arcade game released by Sega in 1983. The game has come to be seen as Sega's answer to the highly successful Donkey Kong game that was released two years prior. The player takes the role of a red-nosed safari hunter who tries to catch an ape named "Bongo". The hunter seeks Bongo to exact revenge for an apparent practical joke in which Bongo set fire to the hunter's tent, giving him a literal "hotfoot". The game was named by Peter W. Gorrie who was the CFO of Sega at that time.
Battlezone is an arcade game from Atari released in November 1980. It displays a wireframe view (using vector graphics rather than raster graphics) on a horizontal black and white (with green and red sectioned color overlay) vector monitor. Due to its novel gameplay and look, this game was very popular for many years. Throughout the 1980s, Battlezone was ported to several home computer systems (usually on the Atarisoft label), including the Apple II, the Commodore 64, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and the Atari XEGS. The Atari ST port contains large parts of the original 6502 code which is emulated in real time. An Atari 2600 port was also released, but has colored raster graphics due to limitations and the view is behind the tank rather than inside it.
In 2084, man creates a species of super-advanced cyborgs known as Robotrons. Recognizing the imperfect nature of their creators, the Robotrons conclude that the inefficient human race must be exterminated. In Robotron: 2084, only you and a single family of clones remain. If mankind is to survive, you must destroy the Grunts, Brains, Enforcers, and Tanks - but avoid the indestructible Hulks at all cost. Can you withstand wave after wave of android invasion and rescue Mommy, Daddy, and Mikey... before it's too late?
Shadow of the Beast is a platform game developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis in 1989. The original version was released for the Amiga and later ported to many other systems. The game was known for its graphics, with many colours on screen and up to twelve levels of parallax scrolling backdrops, and its atmospheric score composed by David Whittaker, which used high-quality instrument samples.
"Bounty Bob" is mining a radioactive mine in the year 2049. Help him "claim" all of the various stations (multiple screens). Avoid contact with the deadly mutant organisms by running away, or hopping over them. Collect various articles left by previous miners for bonus points.
Set in the year 2003, the game involves using a spaceship to destroy enemy droid ships. The player's ship is controlled with a spinner to rotate the ship, a button for thrusting, and a button for firing lasers. The enemies that the player must destroy or avoid are drone ships, commander ships, two types of space mines, and shooting star ships. The ship bounces off an invisible barrier on the edges of the screen that briefly appears when hit. By default, Extra ships are awarded at 40,000 and 100,000 points, but this can be changed by the machine's owner.
Choplifter is military themed scrolling shooter where you play as a pilot. Take off from your home base and fly across a horizontally-scrolling playfield of rugged terrain to reach the enemy Bungelings' barracks. There, you must land and rescue a group of helpless hostages and return then to your base. To hinder your mission, the enemy will attack with an array of armaments including tanks, jets, and dangerous air mines. To complete a perfect game, you must rescue all of the 64 hostages.
Jungle Hunt is side-scrolling arcade game produced and released by Taito in 1982. It was initially released as Jungle King. Jungle Hunt is one of the first video games to use parallax scrolling. The player controls an unnamed jungle explorer sporting a pith helmet and a safari suit. The player attempts to rescue his girl from a tribe of hungry cannibals by swinging from vine to vine, swimming a crocodile-infested river, jumping over or ducking beneath rolling rocks, then releasing the girl before she is lowered into a boiling cauldron. Home versions were released for the Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, ColecoVision, VIC-20, and IBM PC. The PC version was developed by Sierra On-Line and is incompatible with anything except an original IBM PC/XT with a CGA video card. In the Atari-ported versions the hero is named Sir Dudley, and the girl, married to Sir Dudley, is Lady Penelope.
In this game, you must guide your spaceship around while picking up hostages located on the surface, and bring them to safety. Your task becomes difficult by lunar leepers who leap up and try to grab you or the hostages that are picked up by your ship.
A text based Adventure Game for the TRS-80, later enhanced with visual scenes in various ports. Only allowed 2-Word input and was largely based on Colossal Cave Adventure.
Dragons have driven the Royal Court from the Castle "O we are lost, lost" laments the King. "Without our vast treasures we cannot raise an army 'gainst these accursed dragons. Our Kingdom must now languish under lizards!" "Nay, not so, my liege!" replied the young Prince. "None knows that Castle, those many bridges and storerooms, better than I. Give me leave and I shall loot those lizards of their plunder and restore my lord to his birthright." "Brave boy," said the King, fully pleased. "But," he added darkly, "beware dread dragonfire!"
Demon Attack is an arcade action game with gameplay similar to Space Invaders. You control a laser canon at the bottom of the screen, and need to destroy wave after wave of brightly colored demons. The demons bounce around the screen in bizarre patterns, and try to destroy your canon with bombs or lasers. When you shoot a demon, it will be replaced with another or will split into two smaller demons depending on which wave you are playing. When the required number of demons for the current round is finally destroyed, you can move on to the next, more difficult round.
Tutankham is a combination of the maze, action and shoot 'em up genres. Taking on the role of an explorer grave robbing Tutankhamun's tomb, the player is chased by creatures such as asps, vultures, parrots, bats, dragons, and even curses, all that kill the player on contact. The explorer can fight back by firing lasers at the creatures, but he can only cover the left and right directions. The player is also endowed with a single screen-clearing "flash bomb" per level or life. Finally, each level has warp zones that teleport the player around the level, which enemies cannot use. To progress, the player collects keys open locked doors throughout the levels, searching for the large exit door. Optional treasures can be picked-up for bonus points. Each level has a timer; when it reaches zero the explorer can no longer fire lasers, and once a level is cleared the remaining time is converted to bonus points.
Gorf actually consists in the Arcade version of five different types of space shooters. The first one ist basically is a Space Invaders clone. In the second one a formation of space ships is hovering at the top of the screen while single space ships will disengage from the formation and dive down at you. The third variant is a Glaxian clone and only available in the Arcade version. In the fourth mini-game the enemy will come out of a circular hyperspace field and attack you. After having destroyed four of your attackers the game proceeds to the fifth game stage. Here a huge mothership is dropping bombs at you from the top of the screen. You defeat the mothership with a well placed projectile hitting it between its two major sections. After that the game starts from the gebinning on a higher difficulty level.
A text adventure game from Brian Howarth.